Pressing-irons.



P. A. MILLS.

PRESSING IRON S.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 18, 1908.

Patnted Aug. 1, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

v l l l y i) 111// y l l 1 N W/TNESSES /NVENTH I'. A. MILLS. PBESSINGIBQNS. J@PPLIGMI'IQN FILED AUG. 1s, 190s.

999,581. Patented Aug. 1, 1911.

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WITNESSES INVENTH nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn c.

, .UNITED STATES .PATENT 013p*'ICEA 'rnsnnnroirn MILLS, oriinw YORK, N.Y;

PRESSING-IRONS.

To all whom t may concer/i: y

Beit known that I, Fnnnnnion A. MILLS, a citizenfof the Uni-ted States,anda resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattam in thecounty and State of New rlr, have invented certain. new and usefulImprovements in. Pressinglrons. vThis iitiventionv relates toimprovements in pressingk -irons designed for pressing and 1 ()vcreasing garments, such for example as trousers.-

...ne of the objects-of the invention is to.

provide a device which may be used to press and crease garments, such astrousers, while 15 they are being-'Worn Another object of my inventionis to provide a device which can also be used as a smoothing or pressingiron in the usual Way.

:A further object is to provide a device of' the character stated whichmay be used in connection'witha-guide or support such as shown in mylapplication for Letters Patent Seri-al' No. 450,325, led August 26,1908.

Various other objects which I have had in mind,.such as simplicity ofconstruction, convenience and economy in operation, will ippear -freinthe' following description which sets :forth apractical embodiment ofthe inventon, reference being had to the accom'- .3 0 p'niying drawings,in Which;-

Figure l. s a perspective :View of niy creasingv irons; :Figa 2f is avertical section of oney of the creasing irons on line 2-2 ofAFigfovvith parts of the heater element removed. yFig. 3 is a verticalsection through trifley center of the.` bracket and bearing portionshown inFig. l; Fig.' Il is a perspective -View of one of the creasingirons detached from itsfel-iow member. Fig. 5 is a cross section of thesaine iron, taken on line 5-5 ofV Fig. 2.

Itivill, be seen that this device is designed with special reference tothe pressing of two sides of the fold of a. garmentsuch as al pairotrousers, but it is so constructed that the 'two members composing itmay be lreadily and quickly detached` from each other and one of themembers be usedV as a smoothing iron for pressing out Wrinklesinotherparts. of the cloth Where a crease is not desired.

A and B are twin pressing irons, oblong in shape, andconstructed with aninterior I prefer to form each member as 'a single hollow casting withthe exception Specification of Letters Patent. 4 Patent-edd Allg. 1,1911. Application. ined August is, 190s. serial No. 449,017. i v

of its outer vplatre B, which is made sepa-' rate-being attached by thescrews C toK lugs C formed as a 'part ofthe casting B-A so as to provideeasy access to the interior in the event o16 the electrical heating cir-.cuit becoming disarranged throughy any cause. The irons are slightlyrounded at one edge, as at A,-so thatV the-impression' made by' theirons on the cloth will taper off gradually. l I

On the interior of the casing -or iron A, and at the inner side thereof,designated at D, is provided an insulated electrical heating element,Which may beof any desired construction, of which I have illustrated oneform, in Which E re'resents a thin strip of insulating material, such,for example, as mica, around which isfcoiled a thin electricresistancevvire F oisuitable metal, such as platinum or German silver.These are insulated from vthe metallic interior surface of the member Aby another'strip of insulating material E", and insulating material isalso provided on the opposite side of the resistance coil, 4as at (hoverwhich is placed .a layerof asbestos G', Which serves to retain thegenerated heat at the ironing surface D. The resistance coil takes itselectriccurrent from the Wire H through the binding `post I, and afterthe current has passed through the resistance coil, it passes. out atthe binding post K, all of which will be lreadily understood. Bothofthel binding.

postsare suitably insulated from the casing A as at J and J.. Theasbestos lining 'and resistance coil, and the adjacent insulatingmaterial may be secured in place to the i-nner tace D of the iron.r inany convenient manner as by a backing plate X and screwsl Y. The bindingposts I and K are adaptedl to receive the usual forni of socketsconnected to Wires'ivhich' will take the current from any convenientsource 'of electrical' energy, such as a lighting circuit.

To the heating plates A, B, are secured the bracket frames K, K2, bymeans ofthe screws L and theears M. lThe bracket frame K is providedwith lugs N, having' slots N. The bracket :traine'K2 is provided withlugs O having eyes' P, through which traverses a pin P', which is heldinplace at one end by the head Q and at'the other end by the cotter pin Q.The pin P .is of a size to snugly tit the V slot N', and lthis pin Iacts as a bearing on which the irons turn in opening and closing. Around the pin l is coiled the spring R, which, at one end, rests againstthe bracket frame K2, at

a; the other end, when the'irons are in working position, expends itsforce against the bracket frame K at I), which is slightly cut.

spring R. The spring R is provided with an extension T, and when it isdesired to take the members apart, the extension T is pressed overtoward the handle S and is secured in the hook or catch'T, when theforce of the spring R is taken off the bracket frame K at Z). Thereupon,-the member composed of the parts A, K and S is held to its fellowmember merely by the pin P and the lugs N, O, and as the lugs N areprovided with the open slots N', a slight pull by the operator on thehandle S, in the direction shown by the arrow, disengages the membercomposed of the parts A, K and S, from the member composed of the partsB', K2 and S, and it may be then used as a separate pressing iron forthe purposes already mentioned. At about the center of the bracketframes K, K2 is the opening U, which may be of any desired form, only sothat it conform to the shape of the standard, which in F ig. l is shownin dotted lines projecting upwardly therethrough, .and shown inelevation at V in Fig. 3, but this is no part of my'present inventionand is shown as illustrating one manner in which the device may beused.

It will be seen that there are providedl two bearings, at N', N. O, O,considerably removed from each other7 which serve tokeep the workingfaces of the irons A, Bin close contact throughout the length thereof,thereby taking a irin and uniform grip on the fold of cloth. I have hereshown only one of the two members equipped for electrical heating, asthe heat of the one mem# ber willreadily transmit itself to the other,but should it be desired, the other member as well maybe heated by meansof the electric heating circuit. I do not, however, wish to limit myselfsolely to an electrically heated iron, as my, construction contains manyuseful features without reference to the manner in which it is heated.

The operation is as follows: The garment to be creased is first slightlymoistened, by` means of a spray, a damp cloth or in any other suitablemanner.- The pressing irons being heated, the operator holds the device'by the handles S, S, which, being pressed toward each other against theforce of the spring R' opens the irons A, B at D, into which opening-thefold of the trousers, or

veach iron, 'means movably connecting other garment to; be creased, isinserted; the l pressure then beingI taken off the handles S,

lS, the spring -R forces the irons toward each other and against theenfolded cloth, in which position it is permitted to remain for a fewmoments, untll the desired crease 'has been 'made at that point, whentheirons are again opened and the device moved along to another portionvof the fold, where the irons are applied in the same manner, and thisoperation is re ated until the desired crease has been ma e throughoutthe length of the fold of the garment. The operator may be aided inthese operations by the use of a relatively stationary guide or supportsuch as embodied in my co-pending app ication 'Serial No. 450,325, andhere partly shown at Vin Fig. 4l, such guide serving,

amongV other things, to hold the pressing irons ,1n a straight -linealong the length of the fold. Any objectionable wrinkles remaining inthe lgarment ,may be smoothed out by the use of one of the lrons as asadiron after it has been detached from its fellow member in the manneralready described. y

' What I claim as my invention'is:

1. A creasing and pressing device comprising in combination a. pair ofhollow box-like irons movably connected to each other and havingopposing flat faces between whichmay be inserted a garment or fabric tobe creased, means for'pressing the irons together, manually operatedmeans for moving the irons apart, and electric heating devices mountedon one of said irons. l

2. A creasii and pressing device comprising in com ination a pair ofapproxi mately rectanmilar box-shaped irons hav` ing opposing dat facesbetween which may be inserted -a garment or fabric to be creased, abracketdike holding 'frame on said frames to each other, means for ielingly pressing thel irons together, han -operated means for forcing theirons apart, and electric heat-ing .devices mounted on one of saidirons. v

3. A' creasin and; pressing device comprising in com ination a pau ofbox-like irons having opposing flat pressing faces between which maybevinserted a garment or fabric to be pressed, holding frames centrallyrecessed -extendin longitudinally of said irons and secured t ereto,means movably connecting said holding frames to each other, means forpressing the irons together, means .comprising a handle onY one of saidholding frames for moving one iron away lfrom the other iron, andelectric heating devices mounted on one of said irons.

4. A creasing and pressing device comprising inv combination a pair ofbox-like irons having opposing flat pressing faces be- ,tween which maybe inserted a garment or fabric to be pressed, bracketrframe holdinnieinbers extending longitudinally of sai irons and secured thereto,means pivotally connecting saidmembers at points relatively1emote-fromach other, a sprin for pressing the'lrons .to ether, a pairof; an-

dlesfone on'each hol ing'member, for fore-1 ling-the irons apart, andelectricheating dei pressed, elect-ric heating devices mounted on one ofsaid irons, means connecting said irons with freedom for relativemovement, means for pressing the irons together, and

'means for forcingthe irons apart, the said connecting means beingdetachable whereby the irons may be separated and one used alone as asad-iron.

6. A combined creasing and smoothing de vice, comprising in combination,a pair of irons having opposing faces between which may be inserted thegarment or fabric to be pressed, electric heating devices mounted on oneof said irons, means/for pivotally vconnecting said irons, a spring forpressing the irons together, and meanscomprisin a han-v dle on one oftheirons for forcing t e irons apart, lthe said pivotal connecting meansbeing detachable whereby the irons :may be separated and one used aloneas a sad-iron.

FREDERICK A.. MILLS.

lVitnesses:

GILBERT E. YoUMANs, MAXWELL SILVER.

